Philip Callan MP
Philip Callan MP (born 1837, was the son of Owen Callan MP, of Cookstown House Ardee (where Philip Callan was born). Philip Callan studied Law at Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

, and also at Kings Inns as can be seen in his papers for Kings Inns Admittance. He was called to the Bar in Dublin in 1865 and shortly after was also called to the English Bar.

He was subsequently elected to Parliament for the Borough of Dundalk

Dundalk (UK Parliament constituency)

Dundalk was a parliamentary borough constituency in Ireland, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

 in 1868, and held the seat for County Louth

County Louth (UK Parliament constituency)

County Louth, otherwise known as Louth County or Louth, is a former parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

 at the same time.

Walter Ernest Everard Callan, son of Philip Callan MP also studied Law and attended Kings Inns in Dublin, he was called to the Bar in 1903 and was third in his year as noted by his papers in the Kings Inns Library, Dublin. Walter was private secretary to the last Viceroy in Ireland and continued in the civil service, serving in Australia as Private Secretary to the Governor General. Papers to this effect can be obtained from the National Library of Australia and correspondence from and to Mr Walter Callan can be seen in Prime Minister Deakins Papers which are also available from the National Museum of Australia. Walter Callan went on to become Senior Counsel at the Irish Bar and resided at Baggot Street, in Dublin until his death.

Extracts from F. Hugh O'Donnell, A History of the Irish Parliamentary Party Vol 1. (1910), Longmans, Green & Co.:

"When in 1829 Catholics were admitted to parliament , his father, Owen Callan of Ardee, had been the first Catholic Representative of County Louth since the Battle of the Boyne

Battle of the Boyne

The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...

. Mr. Philip Callan was devoted to Butt."

"Callan knew the inside of Irish politics, as Charles Greville

Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville

Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville was an English diarist and an amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1819 to 1827...

 knew the inside of English politics, at their spiciest time. The Chronique Scandaleuse of Dublin can be spicy too; and what Mr. Philip Callan, barrister at law and parliamentarian, did not know, was hardly worth knowing. Always a bon vivant, he was still , at this time a remarkably handsome and manly man, ready to clear a ditch or cap a retort with any man on horseback or off. Though often accused of Whiggery

British Whig Party

The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...

, he was curiously deep in the confidence of the most extreme Nationalists in Dublin. There was not a move of the Ribbon Fenian

Fenian

The Fenians , both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood , were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish republican...

s which did not reach his acute hearing, and a good deal of his news travelled to me".

"At that time the St Stephens Club on the embankment (London) was a favourite dining resort of the conservative members, scores of them usually preferring its hospitality to the care of the Kitchen Committee. An Irish Member, Mr Philip Callan, well known as an all round sportsman in his native county of Louth, had observed that a convenient extension connected the division bells of the House with the dining rooms of the club, and the diners could arrive in the lobbies in time for the vote. Providing himself with an efficient wire cutter, he snipped the connecting wire, and warned his amused colleagues without the support of the festive club men. We took the hint with alacrity- I followed. The government whips stared in expectation at the door from which the absent ones were wont to rush to the rescue of the Government measure, but on this occasion the wait was in vain. Before a messenger could be tardily sent on foot to warn the club of the inexplicable occurrence on the wire, the division had been taken, and the Government had been beaten by a majority of two votes while fifty belated and indignant arrivals stood on the wrong side of the portal of admission. Owing largely I believe to the sporting equity of Mr. James Lowther, who protested that the Irish had fairly won the trick, the Government did not insist upon a formal undoing of the victory, but they watered their concession down to very little".

Sources

• Note Mr. P. Callan, M.P was convicted of libel against Mr. A.M. sullivan M.P. 30 Nov , 1880(Magistrates List 1880)
• National Museum of Australia, Papers of Prime Minister Deakin of Australia.
• Kings Inns Admittance Papers of Philip Callan, 1865, Kings Inns Library.
• Kings Inns Admittance Papers of Walter Ernest Everard Callan, 1903, Kings Inns Library.
• Gerard Moran, "Philip Callan, A Nationalist MP", Article County Louth Archaeological Journal 1994.Available Drogheda Civic Library.
• F. Hugh O'Donnell, A History of the Irish Parliamentary Party Vol 1 & 2. (1910), Longmans, Green & Co.:

External links